10 Improvements to Make Your Site Sizzle

• Create your home page from your client’s perspective, instead of your own. As a business owner, you understand in detail all of the information associated with your business. Often times your client has never thought about your product before, and has very limited knowledge. So start your home page with information, possible even questions, on things they may be thinking about. Then, provide more information the deeper they go into your web site.
• Create navigation buttons that are logical. Again, think of navigating your site from your clients’ perspective. What does you client come to your site for? Create navigation buttons based on that information.
• Create a links page. This is a must for anyone with a site. Links are valuable in two ways. First, it allows your clients to view other sites that you feel are valuable. This provides you with the chance they may bookmark your site because of its value, and will continue to access it for its content. Second, it provides direct marketing with other related sites. If your site is linked with another site, you are not only getting exposure through your site, you also have the chance of receiving exposure through the other sites navigation.
• Check links regularly. Links change very quickly as sites change domain names, or as companies merge or go out of business. Your site will be more reliable if every link is completed.
  How can your client contact you? Check every page within your site and make sure your name, email and phone number, at a minimum, exist. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to contact someone, but can’t figure out how.
• Do not use frames within your site. They are hard to navigate from certain browsers, they are often hard to view, and they are almost always impossible to print.
• Give people a reason to bookmark your site. Resource guides, products to purchase, or detailed and reliable information are just three great reasons your client will want to visit you again and again.
• Review your whole site on a regular basis. Change any page that is no longer current. Your client can tell if your site is not kept up to date, and will not consider your site as a reliable source of information.
• Spell check each page. Spelling errors can be very costly mistakes.
• Review your site for originality. Are you having fun with your site, or is it a chore. It will show up in how each page is presented.

——-
Lori Osterberg has been marketing online since 1995. Her popular online newsletter is read weekly by small business owners from around the world. To subscribe visit http://www.VisionOfSuccess.com

The Power Of An Image

Books are such a wonderful gift to the world. In a few short paragraphs, they can transform you to far off places, create settings from any place in time, and add detail to your imagination like no other source we know. When you want to disappear from reality for a few moments, the best place to go is into a nice hot tub full of bubbles with a few lit candles and a great book!

How can a few words on a page do that to you? How can they change your mood from sad to happy, and lift your spirits to make you ready to face the world again? It’s in the detail. It’s in the way those details fill your emotions. It’s in the way you perceive the world around you based on what has filled your mind within the last few minutes. Everything we do is for the experience. We do it for what it brings into our lives.

So we base our ideas and our perceptions solely on the experiences we have. Experience is everything. The way the rest of the world perceives us is through the experience they receive while they are with us. Imagine how you feel in different places. If you receive an experience above and beyond the expected, don’t you feel just a little more special? Don’t you recommend those places that go above and beyond the normal, and give you an experience that you never thought was possible?

What does it take to create that type of an image for your company? Here are three ways for moving your business forward.

1. Create a memorable first impression. Whether on the pages of your website, through the first contact with a powerful brochure, or a handshake at a local restaurant, first impressions have a definite effect on your future business.

Did you know a person forms an opinion of you within the first 15 seconds of meeting you? Or that a person makes a decision to read copy on your website or a brochure based on the headline alone?
If you were presenting to a potential client, you would never show up in jeans and a sweatshirt. Yet many people think nothing of printing up brochures on their home computer, and adding handwritten information as needed. Then they wonder why business isn’t as good as they had hoped. What people see the first time they make contact with your company is what they will carry inside for a long time to come.

2. Concentrate on the detail. Putting effort into the little things can have an instant impact on your business. From the thickness of your business cards, to the colors you use on your website, everything tells your customers how well you focus on your business.

Have you ever been to a clothing store that wraps your purchases in tissue paper before putting it into a color-coordinated bag? I love getting home and unwrapping my sweaters from the tissue paper. It just makes them seem a little more special. Yet there really isn’t a difference between them and the large department stores that simply drop the sweaters into a bag. It’s just my perception of the quality of their service. It’s the detail they choose to put in their presentation.

3. Follow through on everything you do. Have you ever been totally enthralled in a movie: you love the story line; the characters have captured your heart. And then, the ending comes to an abrupt halt? Don’t you somehow feel a little cheated?

Servicing your customers is the same way. You can create an incredible first impression, have a convincing sales presentation, have a wonderful product or service, but if you fall short in your delivery, you will lose all credibility with your customers.

Creating the experience always begins with the image you portray from beginning to end, throughout the life of your business. And the more magical it is, the more it will spread like wildfire through your community.

——-
Lori Osterberg has created three successful businesses in the past 10 years, and along the way discovered secrets of taking a local small business and turning it into a worldwide success. She now shares this passion with people all over the world, and writes and mentors on using technology to grow your business – and stay small at the same time! Receive her FREE ezine at www.VisionOfSuccess.com.

The Importance of Education: Learn Something New, Stretch Your Brain

When I was a new graduate from college, with a firm hand on a diploma stating I had a Masters degree in Finance, I was convinced I was now ready to conquer the world. Surely I would have my choice of positions, and could pave my way to wealth, simple by holding that degree. I was done studying. Done reading those boring books forever. Never again would I spend night after night pouring over a book that didn’t have the word “romance” in the title.

So happily I moved down the path of life, and took a banking position. Followed by an accounting position. Followed by an auditing position. And then I began taking a serious look at my life. Was this really what school had taught me? Wasn’t there more to life than simply holding a job? How was I supposed to find my true calling?

I began sitting at my desk contemplating my future. Surely there were others out there like me that began to question their fate. That suddenly decided that their lives simply weren’t working for them anymore, and that a big change was necessary. Or was I alone in this quest?

The funny thing about a quest is once you set your mind to something, it’s easy to find your answers. And the easiest way to find the answers is in writing. Books and magazines became my best friends. I began to read everything and anything; from self-help to business help. I began to get a new type of education. An education from listening to what others had to say about success, life, and the general pursuit of happiness. And I discovered the importance of a great education, not just an institutionalized education.

A great education begins with the desire to learn. As long as that desire exists inside of you, you can literally conquer anything.

Education is one of my favorite topics. Knowledge is the key to success. It can unlock any door you choose. Simply by wanting to learn, and following through with the act of learning, you can become anything you dream. And education is so easily achieved! Literally anyone can receive intense, specialized knowledge if they so desire. Education is not synonymous with formal training. Education is simple the desire to learn. And there are so many ways to learn!

Thomas A. Edison had only three months of formal education during his entire lifetime. Henry Ford had less than a sixth grade education. Bill Gates never completed college. Yet every single one of these people became very successful in their lifetime. Why? Because they had a thirst for knowledge, and learned what was important to them in any way they can. They read. They studied under mentors. They educated themselves with happenings in the world around them. And they NEVER gave up on the formal education of life.

My current education goal? First, to read one non-fiction book a week for the rest of my life. Just by following through on this simple goal, I will have read 52 books by the end of the year, 260 books in 5 years, and over 1300 books in 25 years! Second, to always have at least one mentor that can teach me new ideas. Mentors can be personal friends and acquaintances, or can be high-powered mentors in which you learn through their books and seminars. Both have an important place in your life. Both should be used continuously to change the way you think and act. What an education!

Your Action Step For The Week

Discover The Importance of Education

Commit yourself to education. Begin in the simplest way possible: read! One of the best investments you can ever make for yourself is to go to your local library, and get a library card. Then begin checking out books regularly. If you haven’t been lately, you may be surprised. One of our local libraries now carries multiple copies of the bestsellers, and carries DVD’s, magazines, and CD and tapes for checkout.

How do you find good books? Check your bestseller lists. You can find them in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or even on Amazon. If a book makes these lists, there must be a reason. I monitor these lists every week, and make sure I’ve read the books on both the non-fiction and the business lists. Better yet, watch my On The Nightstand column every week. I monitor the bestseller lists, and choose classics that I enjoy and have helped me in to success!

Build your library! When I find a great book that I enjoy, or that offers a wealth of information, I buy it and add it to my library. Even if you buy 52 books a year, averaging $15 a book, that’s an investment of $780 into your education. That’s less than most college courses! What an investment!

Check out the bestseller list!

——-
Lori Osterberg has created three successful businesses in the past 10 years, and along the way discovered secrets of taking a local small business and turning it into a worldwide success. She now shares this passion with people all over the world, and writes and mentors on using technology to grow your business – and stay small at the same time! Receive her FREE ezine at www.VisionOfSuccess.com.

It’s The Experience

Have you ever compared your studio to another business? Usually, we as photographers compare ourselves with other photographers. How can we be like the big guys? How can we be different from the studio down the street? But have you ever compared your studio to other businesses? How about your favorite department store? Or what about the local home builder? What about Disney?

Any business that is vying for your customer’s dollar should be considered as a competitor. If your customer puts off having their portrait taken so that they can vacation at Disney World, Disney just became your competitor. How many times have your wedding orders dwindled because the bills start rolling in, and your customers began looking at other products that need their attention: new homes, blinds for the home, furniture, etc. When you begin looking at business from this approach, you begin seeing your marketing campaign in a whole new light. You aren’t just trying to capture business from other local studios, you are trying to create a style and product that will make your customers want to purchase your product over any of the other hundreds of opportunities that come their way ever day.

The first thing we need to do is capture our customers attention, have them want and desire our products, and be willing to pay what we want and expect them to pay. The key is to provide your customers with something no one else can provide. They come to you for the experience. The little touches. People look for things that make them special. They want customer service. They want individuality. In order to capture your customers’ attention, you must find a creative way of appealing to their senses – touch them in a way no one else has. New clients may be impressed with how much thoughtfulness you put into your brochures. Established clients may be impressed with how well you know their family – what type of portraiture they desire, and offer specials geared especially for them. Possibly by knowing them and their family members by name. Sending them birthday or anniversary cards. Send a bouquet of flowers as a thank you. The key is to make your customer feel special.

Now that we have our customers’ attention, we need to plan, design and market our product in such a way that we will create desire. Simplicity is the number one service you can provide. Make your studio relaxing. People enjoy “getting away from it all”. They like travel. They love health spas. The last thing they want is more stress. Provide simplistic products for purchase. Instead of having pricing sheets in the form of a Chinese menu, simplify and offer products as a whole – do you really need to list prices for the photograph, retouching, canvas mount, and spraying. You decide on the top quality product you want leaving your studio, the product you want representing all you have to offer. Then provide an appropriate price. Every product should be at its best – you should not offer a way of upgrading the quality. Your customer shouldn’t have to ask for an improvement in the quality of the product you produce for them, or they will begin to question the quality of the product itself.

Marketing your services is the most difficult part of business. Setting yourself apart not only from other studios, but from other non-competing companies is quite a challenge. If a woman is purchasing a gift for Mother’s Day for her mother, you need to create a desire for her to select portraiture above all the other gifts she could choose. The easiest way is to play on emotions. Portraiture is an art form. It is a memory maker. Above all it is a form of expression. Sell this expression in your marketing techniques. Whatever makes your studio unique, create an expression that will communicate this feeling to your perspective customers. Then let your customers see and feel your style over and over again.

Keeping in touch with your customer is just as important as providing a quality product. Stay visible in your customer’s eye. If they hear about you in different ways, they will remember you when they are asked for a referral. Newsletters are a great way of staying in touch. They don’t have to be fancy. Newsletters can be fun and informative without having a lot of writing and offers. Again, simplicity and consistency are key. If you are sending a quarterly newsletter, make sure you get it into the mail at the same time every quarter. Create themes. Logos and slogans should always appear in the same position every newsletter. Try adding columns, and continue the column every quarter. Also, vary who you send your newsletter to. Newsletters should continually be mailed to your client database, but also consider mailing them to vendors you do business with. Try writing specialty columns that offer advice for different clients and vendors. This can be a great way of expanding your business into areas you never even considered!

Finally, we need to sum up all of our sales and marketing techniques, and create a pricing structure that we are comfortable with. If you’re not comfortable with it, you can’t use it effectively to sell to your customers. You have to believe in it. You have to feel it’s a fair value. You’re customers will see if you are not comfortable with what you are presenting. If your customer is buying on emotion, she won’t focus on price. After all, she’s investing in a memory, not a product.

Simplicity. Consistency. Your customer will be looking for you to provide them both when choosing you as their photographer. Show them what you offer, not only in what you present, but also how you present it. Make your environment stress free. If they believe in you, they will be back. And, they will bring their friends!

——-
Lori Osterberg has been marketing online since 1995. Her popular online newsletter is read weekly by small business owners from around the world. To subscribe visit
http://www.VisionOfSuccess.com

7 Ways To Make Your Studio Website More Sellable

“I put up my website a few months ago, and I’m still not at the top of the search engines.”

“Why isn’t my website working? I’m still not making money online.”

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard these phrases! Unfortunately many people still believe putting up a website will be the answer to their marketing problems. If you’re having trouble getting people in to your business using traditional marketing methods, chances are you’re problems will carry through to your online marketing methods as well.

Thousands of websites are being added to the Internet everyday. By doing a recent search on Google I discovered:

• 66,900,000 pages exist with the word “photography”
• 9,270,000 pages exist with the words “photography studio”
• 1,450,000 pages exist with the words “wedding photography studio”
• 991,000 pages exist with the words “professional wedding photography studio”
• 196,000 pages exist with the words “California professional wedding photography studio”

And if you’re beyond the top 20-30 pages, chances are you’re never getting in front of your potential customer. So where do you go from here? How do you use your website to get in front of a good, qualifying potential customer?

A successful website is not something you build over night. It is a work in progress, something that you should work on week after week. To start you off, here are 7 ideas to help grow your website and the potential it has to market your business.

1. Create a professional site. This is probably the first thing you see in any list talking about how to build up an Internet presence. Yet it’s amazing how many sites are out there that still have a homemade appearance. Your website is an extension of your business. Not only should it be informative, it should be entertaining, and provide people with exactly what they are looking for. You are a photographer. Show people your work. Make them feel the emotion of your photography, and the service you provide to your customers. A gallery of a dozen images that each take seconds to load is not emotional. Professionalism comes from knowing what your customers want, and giving them more than they expect. If you can’t create a professional website by yourself, hire it done. Because you earn your money through photography, don’t expect yourself to be good at all forms of creative graphics. Websites are a marketing tool, not a creative extension of your business. Foremost, your website is a sales tool that can bring in unimaginable profits to your business – but only if you use it as such.

2. Pricing on your website. The biggest debate on the Internet for photographers is whether to list pricing information. On one hand, listing your pricing will guarantee only truly motivated people will contact your studio. On the other hand, every customer you have will be calling you solely based on your pricing. I myself prefer to not list pricing, or do it in a very discreet way. I want my customers calling me because they love my work. I want them to feel the passion of my art, and call me because they can see themselves in my photographs. Price is secondary. If you still feel pricing is something you have to list on your website, list it only once on your services page. After you describe what services you offer your customers, list a phrase like “starting from $3900”. This gives your potential customer a basis for your services, yet doesn’t make the main goal of your website price.

3. Creating a purpose. What is the overall purpose of your website? Is it to get a potential customer to contact you? Is it to drive your existing customers to a place to purchase your photographs? Before your website can be successful, you have to discover your number one purpose. Then use every page to motivate people towards your purpose. Again, your website is more than a brochure. It is a member of your sales team that ‘talks’ to your potential customer. When you talk with a person in person, or on the phone, your ultimate goal is to get them to make some type of commitment. Your website should have the same goal.

4. Showcase your work. You’re a photographer. Showing a dozen images doesn’t show a potential client what you do. Pull your customer in by providing them with a wealth of information on your website. Clients come to you for photographs; show them photographs! Photography is one of those rare industries in which you can’t have too many graphics on your website, providing they are small files that load quickly.

5. Use motivating text. Are you writing to your customer in a professional manner? Does your website use the same language you use when meeting with a person face to face? Your website is your sales tool. Treat it as if it were a 24/7 sales person, and let your website do the talking for you.
On the Internet, the one thing you can’t do is hide. Depending on how a person searches, every website is a potential find. Because someone from New York, or California, or even India may pull up your site, how are you talking to him or her? Instead of writing your text from your perspective, write as if you are a person in a far away country that knows nothing about your industry. Her sole purpose is to find out more information on wedding photography. Are you educating her? Are you telling her what she wants to know AND what she cares about? (Most people don’t care what type of cameras you use; they only want to know how they benefit.)

6. Create links to other sites. Is your site a useful resource? Think of yourself as a mini-wedding coordinator or parent advisor. Depending on the type of photography you specialize in, provide your customer useful information to go beyond just hiring your services. A wedding photographer can provide links to caterers, florists, and reception halls. A family or children’s photographer can provide links to schools, clothing and sports stores, and community events. Tip: When you’re linking to other websites, have them link back to you as well. This boosts up your ratings in the search engines!

7. Get your site listed on other sites. There are hundreds of ways of getting your site listed on other websites. Linking is one of the easiest methods. But beyond linking, you may try other means. Purchase banner ads. Many sites offer paid advertising, usually at very reasonable prices. Purchase classified advertising. Many newspapers and magazines offer a deal where you purchase an ad in their print edition, and you get a website listing for free. For example, we have a Colorado Parent magazine in our community. By purchasing an ad in the classified section, you also get a listing on the website. Find community directories to list your services in. Larger communities have at least one directory online that makes it easy to find resources within your area. Join at least one, and always be on the lookout for others that may benefit your business. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to advertise your website, both online and in traditional marketing methods.

——-
Lori Osterberg has created three successful businesses in the past 10 years, and along the way discovered the secrets of taking a local small business and turning it into a worldwide success. She now shares this passion with people all over the world, and
speaks, writes and mentors on using technology to grow your business – and stay small at the same time! Receive her FREE ezine at www.VisionOfSuccess.com.

5 Simple Offline Promotions To Guarantee More Traffic To Your Website

I’ve worked with many small businesses, and countless owners think of Internet marketing as a separate entity from their traditional marketing methods. Instead of working them together, they literally separate the two in to two functions.

If you’ve fallen in to this trap on more than one occasion, take a look at these 5 ideas that will get your traditional and online marketing methods working together.

1. Create postcards specifically for an online promotion. Hand them out to every customer that enters your store, and mail them out to your current client list. Make sure your promotion that isn’t available in your store or office. Compel your customers to logging in to your website and making the purchase online if they desire your product or service.

2. Create a class or seminar either in your store or office, or at a local community location. During the class, reference a product or a report that is available on your website. Offer that report or small gift for free if they go to your site and register for your online newsletter. Promote that free report or gift throughout the class.

3. Join local associations and networking groups. As a part of membership, you gain access to the list of members. Create a postcard specifically announcing your website, and send them to the members on the list several times of year. Change the postcard announcing new features or promotions.

4. Do you advertise in the local newspaper or magazines? Instead of asking them to call or visit your location, have them visit your website. Again, give them a reason to visit your site. Offer a report or a free gift for taking the time to visit your site, and fill out the necessary information.

5. Work the idea of offline promotion in reverse. In order to entice your walk in customers to sign up for information online, offer in-store coupon promotions that will be emailed in an ezine once a week. A local restaurant has done this, and has created quite a stir with their coupons. Once a week, they email out coupons for items like appetizers, entrees, wine and take-out orders. And they have fun with the whole campaign, creating “take the kids out after soccer for a pizza” and “leave the cooking to us on Friday night” emails.

——-
Lori Osterberg has created three successful businesses in the past 10 years, and along the way discovered the secrets of taking a local small business and turning it into a worldwide success. She now shares this passion with people all over the world, and speaks, writes and mentors on using technology to grow your business – and stay small at the same time! Receive her FREE ezine at www.VisionOfSuccess.com.

5 Ways To Get Your Business Running, Profitable and Successful Within 90 Days

What do you do when the job you’re in “disappears” before your eyes, and leaves you without a paycheck? Like many people, I understand that feeling all too well. And like many people, I took my entrepreneur spirit, and started my own company with very little capital.

One thing that makes a company stronger is when you have to look for ways to make it survive. When you don’t have money to spend on advertising, you look carefully for ways that are going to give you the biggest bang for your buck. And I only chose those activities that allowed me to see immediate results.

Looking back, I can attribute my success to the following five strategies.

1. Start with what you have. Everyone has contacts. Whether its family and friends, business associates, or networking affiliates, create a file listing contact information for everyone you know. Then generate a personalized letter and talk about your online services. Ask them to visit you online. Provide a motivator to ensure their visit. People can’t promote you if they don’t know what you do. So tell them! Mail it to everyone on your list.

2. Starting with a “friendly” list is a great way to get started. But don’t stop there. Next, figure out what industries your customers are in. Who is your target prospect? Continue to build your list by including people and companies in your target industries.

One of the best ways to build a list is to head to your local library (many libraries now have research tools online so you can do your research from your home or office), and ask for various business directories. Your librarian can be an invaluable resource at this point in time. There are many different directories, databases and research tools. One of my favorite databases is Reference USA. It has listings of over 12 million U.S. businesses, 120 million households, and 650,000 physicians and dentists. You can sort by many different characteristics, including company size, state, and SIC codes.

I’m a heavy believer in direct mail because it works. I’ve had incredible results sending out personalized letters, and asking people to respond. I’ve included response cards with my letters, and have asked people to visit my site for a free report. I’ve had luck with both techniques. But the key is to get people to take action. A letter is nice, but if they don’t contact your immediately, they will soon forget you.

3. When you get people to your site, again the key is to take action. A website should have enough information to entice a viewer to want more information. Once you’ve established that connection, motivate them to provide you with their contact information in exchange for an item of value. A free report or a subscription to an ezine are logical choices. Once you have their contact information, you now have the ability to contact them again and again. And sell them on your business and your services with every contact.

4. Driving traffic to your site becomes the next area of focus. Your lists provide you with initial contacts. But with the Internet, finding those same people all over the world becomes necessary to grow your business. Begin building up your name as the authority within your field or industry.

Get your personal name out there – not just your business name. Write articles for other websites and ezines with complimentary target markets. Become a guest moderator on forums. Become a columnist for a trade publication. Look for opportunities to build up your credibility.

The ultimate goal is to provide quality information to people in your target market. And to have the ability to provide your contact information, and ultimately a link back to your site, in places all over the Internet. Trust is built when people see our name again and again. Connecting with other like-minded entrepreneurs and businesses is a sure fire way of getting known.

5. No matter how hard you work, there will always be just 24 hours in a day. As your days become busier, learning to leverage other people’s time and effort becomes mandatory to facilitate growth. Most small business people try to do too many things on their own. Instead, ask others for help in their areas of expertise. Areas that I have found useful to ask for help are:

• Hire virtual assistants to keep up with daily operations. They learn your business from the inside out, and can fill in for you at a moments notice.
• Hire professionals to do the tasks that keep you from what you do best. Hire a data entry company to input your daily transactions. Hire an accountant to do your taxes and provide you with accounting advice. Hire lawyers to help you write contracts.
• Hire coaches to help keep you on track. Business coaches can do wonders for helping you grow your business with strong business strategies. And life coaches can help you sustain balance within your busy life.
• Hire help on an as needed basis. I love marketing and PR, and I must admit a great deal of my time is spent performing these two functions. But I’m also aware I can move quicker if I ask for help occasionally. Don’t be afraid to ask for help even if it is in your area of expertise, or you enjoy performing the work. Hire copywriters to make your letters, brochures and marketing tools as effective as possible. Hire a PR firm to cover a different target area. Hire an Internet marketing company to help optimize your website.

Each of these techniques will provide you with a healthy start to growing your online business. And as you work each one, remember you can always continue to add to each technique in the future. Performing the same task in different ways will only provide you with more people directed towards your business.

——-
Lori Osterberg has created three successful businesses in the past 10 years, and along the way discovered secrets of taking a local small business and turning it into a worldwide success. She now shares this passion with people all over the world, and writes and mentors on using technology to grow your business – and stay small at the same time! Receive her FREE ezine at www.VisionOfSuccess.com.

The Real Reason For Being At The Top

It happened again.

Almost every day I hear the phrase, “I want to be at the top of the search engines”. What does that really mean?

Unfortunately, most people say that phrase without actually thinking about what they mean by it. Do they want more visitors to their sites? Do they want more money to come into their businesses?

Simply being at the top of the search engines does nothing for your business. I can send thousands of people to any site on the web. But if I send a thousand vegetarians to a site selling steaks, is it going to be of benefit?

Instead, what people really are asking for is to get noticed. To have quality people come into their site for the opportunity of creating a sale some time in the future. People want leads.

Good quality leads can come from a variety of sources. Just like with traditional marketing methods, you’ll find clients in a variety of different methods. If you take a look at your last five clients, you’re likely to discover they came from a variety of sources. From places like:

• a referral from a past client;
• an ad in a niche targeted magazine;
• a direct mail postcard;
• a meeting at a local networking group; and
• a friend of the family.

The key to traditional marketing methods is not putting all of your eggs into one basket; instead relying on a number of different sources.

But up until now, the Internet has been somewhat different. People are still putting up websites, and expecting people to magically find them. Or they expect to be placed on a search engine in the number one position (out of millions) and be instantly recognized.

A good Internet strategy takes its cue from a traditional marketing plan. It realizes there are dozens of ways to reach a potential customer, and finds ways of capturing each of those methods. So a well marketed site might receive visitors, and ultimately purchasers, from things like:

• a banner ad on a complimentary site;
• a click from a pay-per-click ad;
• a referral from an article on an association site;
• a link from an ezine; and
• yes, a top placement on a strong keyword within the search engines.

Having a clear vision for your business allows you to market your business directly to your ideal target market. The same applies to your website. The clearer you are on your ideal client, the easier it is to reach out to them.

With the Internet, a lot of your marketing strategy relies on searches – what are your customers searching for when they reach your site? Different people search for different things, yet all wind up on the same site making an identical purchase.

How do you capture those visitors?

It’s a matter of thinking like your customers. Why do they come to you? If you don’t know, start asking how they found you. Did they see you in an advertisement, or was it a referral from another company? What were they searching for when they found your company?

As you find different techniques, concentrate on building advertising methods using those techniques.

While many business owners have the belief that a top ranking placement of one keyword will bring in the traffic, in truth concentrating you efforts on multiple, less searched keywords is an easier task to accomplish.

Instead of being at the top of the search engines for a strong keyword such as “marketing”, concentrating on a more targeted phrase such as “small business marketing for health spas” may in turn help you gain more business.

The word “marketing” is huge, and can contain hundreds of different meanings, depending on the searcher. Yet when you narrow your focus to “small business marketing for health spas”, your focus becomes clear, and you have a much greater chance of gaining the attention you are seeking.

And when you have focused on key phrases, it will open up other marketing opportunities. You may find a directory to place a banner ad, or an ezine that is looking for quality articles. Your focus leads you to better quality contacts.

And isn’t that the real reason to be at the top of the search engines?

——-
Lori Osterberg has created three successful businesses in the past 10 years, and along the way discovered the secrets of taking a local small business and turning it into a worldwide success. She now shares this passion with people all over the world, and speaks, writes and mentors on using technology to grow your business – and stay small at the same time! Receive her FREE ezine at www.VisionOfSuccess.com.

Internet Safety for Parents

What? Internet safety for parents?

But I’m trying to learn how to keep my kids safe – why do I need safety tips?

I thought in this post I would turn the whole idea around of why we as parents need Internet safety.

Maybe you just don’t have time to learn that much about being online. You don’t visit anymore sites that you have to, and really only turn on your computer a couple of times per week.

Or maybe you spend a full day at work, and the last thing you want to do when you get home is spend more time online learning about the latest technology.

Or maybe you dabble in the new technology, and have learned just enough to be totally confused. 

Yet you as a parent are the only one that can help your child navigate the online world, and teach him or her wrong from right. Most parents are not doing this today, which is leaving many sites on equal territory to the wild west.

So when you child was a toddler, you told her “no” when she tried to touch the stove because you understood it was hot and would burn her.

As a child, you taught her “don’t speak to strangers” because you understood the safety issues.

The same applies to the Internet.

Start with the simple statement “Don’t post anything online you wouldn’t want your parents or grandparents reading”.

If you say it enough, they will listen.

Also teach them stories of the implications. If you post a video showing you drinking alcohol at 17, it may impact getting into the college of your choice, or getting the job you desire. People search, and they will find you.

Think twice. And don’t post anything online you wouldn’t want your parents, grandparents – or even your kids reading.

Not only is it a good rule for you kids, it’s a good rule for you too. Establish your boundaries now, and teach your children well.

Stretch Your Brain!

Education is one of my favorite topics. Knowledge is the key to success. It can unlock any door you choose. Simply by wanting to learn, and following through with the act of learning, you can become anything you dream. And education is so easily achieved! Literally anyone can receive intense, specialized knowledge if they so desire. Education is not synonymous with formal training. Education is simply the desire to learn. And there are so many ways to learn!

Thomas A. Edison had only three months of formal education during his entire lifetime. Henry Ford had less than a sixth grade education. Bill Gates never completed college. Yet every single one of these people became very successful in their lifetime. Why? Because they had a thirst for knowledge, and learned what was important to them in any way they can. They read. They studied under mentors. They educated themselves with happenings in the world around them. And they NEVER gave up on the formal education of life.

So how can you begin to get the education that will improve your life? Commit yourself to education. Begin in the simplest way possible: read! One of the best investments you can ever make for yourself is to go to your local library, and get a library card. Then begin checking out books regularly. If you haven’t been lately, you may be surprised. One of our local libraries now carries multiple copies of the bestsellers, and carries DVD’s, magazines, and CD and tapes for checkout.

Choose great books, books that will expand your horizons. How do you find good books? Check your bestseller lists. You can find them in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or even on Amazon. If a book makes these lists, there must be a reason. I monitor these lists every week, and make sure I’ve read the books on both the non-fiction and the business lists. Another way of finding great books is to check the bibliography section within books you enjoy. Here they will list the books that have influenced them. I find that if I like the way an author writes, I will enjoy the books she recommends as well. It’s amazing if you choose books in this manner, you will begin to see a pattern. People read and rely on the classics to influence them in their writing. This will lead you to finding and choosing classics that you will enjoy, and will help you towards success!

Checking out books from the library is a great start, but also keep in mind that a good reference library should be a part of everyone’s repertoire. Build up your library as you begin to read. Make it a goal to read one book a week for the rest of your life. Just by following through on this simple goal, you will read 52 books by the end of the year, 260 books in 5 years, and over 1300 books in 25 years! Imagine the improvement and change in thought process that can take effect with that much influence! Now imagine buying 52 books a year. At an average of $15 a book, that’s an investment of $780 into your education. That’s less than most college courses! And look what you’re gaining! What an investment into your future!

Books are a great investment, but don’t forget the importance of a mentor. Make it a goal to have at least one mentor in your life at all times. Someone that can teach you new ideas, new ways of looking at your life, and new ways of improving your ambitions and your goals. Mentors can be personal friends and acquaintances, or can be high-powered mentors from whom you learn through their books and seminars. Both have an important place in your life. Both should be used continuously to change the way you think and act. And ask for the guidance necessary to help you implement the changes. No one ever got to the top alone. It takes a lot of hard work – why do it alone! Take along people that have been there, people willing to guide you along the path. Someone whom is willing to mentor you, and teach you little tips and tricks will make the journey more satisfying, and easier to achieve.

What an education!

——-
Lori Osterberg has been marketing online since 1995. Her popular online newsletter is read weekly by small business owners from around the world. To subscribe visit http://www.VisionOfSuccess.com

Next Page »